Method of mounting separable thin metal nipple hose couplings



April 14, 1953 l.. M. sTINcl-lcoMB ET AL 2,634,786

METHOD OF MOUNTING SEPARABLE THIN METAL NIPPLE HOSE couPLINGs Filed Deo.15. 1947 9 '0 s a 6 a lo 9 Tf l? Il-i l] 1 ii. UW; M LH Il 8? u Fl '-I94 l0 WV F i l: l ll e LM. Stpnc'ovnbl El 'R' S'DOeY-r INVEN-roRsATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1953 METHOD OF MOUNTING SEPARABLE THIN METALNIPPLE HOSE COUPLINGS' Loid M. Stnchcomb and Raymond S. Doen', BattleCreek, Mich., assignors to H. B. Sherman Manufacturing Company, BattleCreek, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application December 13, 1947,Serial No. 791,482

1 Claim.

The present invention relates broadly to connecting devices, and in itsspecific phases to the forming and anchoring of separable couplings onhose sections.

Hose couplings of the conventional threadedly separable type have maleand female halves, the male half having a cylindrical nipple with oneend enlarged and externally threaded, while the female half has anoutwardly flanged end cylindrical nipple, the flange of which is engagedby the inturned end ange of a nut which is internally threaded to fitthe threads on the male half of the coupling. The nipple portion of eachhalf of the coupling is commonly circumferentially ribbed with one ormore ribs for a short distance from its hose receiving end to facilitatefastening a hose on same with a hose clamp or ferrule. `'lo install eachhalf of this coupling on a piece of hose, the common practice is to slipone half of the coupling onto an extending shouldered mandrel whichpasses into the coupling member from its large end with the shoulder ofthe mandrel against the nipple shoulder, or flange, inside the end ofthe coupling. The ribbed coupling is then bodily forced into the end ofthe hose until the hose comes up against the enlarged end of thecoupling half. A hose clamp, or ferrule, of conventional type is thentightened on the hose over the nipple end of the coupling to anchor themtogether. This procedure, aside from the force, required to push theenlarged nipple into the hose, is very satisfactory with the male halfof the coupling, but causes trouble with the fe-V male half Vfor thereason that when the hose is forced up against the inturned end flangeof the nut it frictionally holds same against free rotation and makesthe tightening of same on a sill cock, male coupling member, or thelike, diicult without also twisting the hose, a thing which should notbe necessary. The tightening of a hose clamp, or ferrule, on the ribbednipple assembly to anchor the hose on the female half of the couplingfurther aggravates this condition since the tightening of the hoseclamp, or ferrule, causes some endwise displacementV of the hose whichmakes the end of the hose bind still tighter against the end flange ofthe nut.

According to present day practice in the pro-r The cylindrical nipplewhich has one or more circumferential ribs on the hose receiving end toform the male half of the coupling ready for mounting on a hose section.In connection with the female half of the coupling, the thin metalcylindrical nipple is commonly formed with an outwardly flanged end, thefinished nut with its inturned end flange slipped into place, and one ormore hose'gripping corrugations formed on the hose receiving end of thenipple to complete the assembly, or the nipple may be completed firstwith'its end flange and hose gripping corrugations, and a partiallynishednut slipped in place and the inturningpof its Vflange thencompleted. Both of these constructions are subject, under conditions ofuse, to the same trouble described above relative to the hose binding on,the

nut.

Instead of initially circumferentially ribbing the hose receiving end ofthe nipple of each'half of the coupling, which makes it harder toinstall the coupling on the hose section due to the enlargement of thenipple and the extra insertion pressure and special tools required,`wepropose'to vleave the nipples plain and of substantially the sameloutside diameter as'the inside diameter of the hose section on whichthe nipplesV are tobe mounted. This in turn makes it easy to insert thecoupling nipple, without the use of a mandrel, into the end of a pieceof hose carrying a plain ferrule, following which the nipple may havecircumferential ribs formed in an out-V ward direction, entirely Withinthe length of the ferrule, to anchor the coupling in place in accordancewith the present invention.

Where plain unribbed nipple type` separable" couplings are to be shippedin separate halves'to a hose manufacturer for installation, the dini-Yculty of the female coupling halves coming apart in shipment andhandlingis involved,V and' if these female halves are shippeddisassembled, then time is required to assemble them beforeinstallation. A specific way of overcoming this diiiiculty is to form arib on the female nipple spaced sufciently from its ange to permit theflange of the nut to freely fit therebetween, and

thusV anchor the two together. This feature, which forms part of thecombination of the present composite invention, is the specific subjectmatter of our copending patent application Serial No. 783,015, filedOctober 30, 194'?, now Patentl No. 2,460,110. It was a recognition ofthe above problems and diiiiculties, and the shortcomings of the priorart in the thin metal separable hose coupling field, combined with thedesire to improve same, which led to the conception and development ofthe present invention.

Accordingly among the objects of the present invention is the provisionof a separable hose coupling having. thin metal cylindrical nipples,each of whichjs adapted to be fastened to the end of a piece of hose,'which has a suitable size ferrule mounted thereon, by inserting thenipple into the end of the ferrule carrying hose and expanding ribs insame entirely Within the length of the ferrule to grip said hose betweensaid ferrule and nipple, thus producing a full flow construction. Y d

Another object is to provide the female Yhalf of a thin meta-1 separablehose coupling with an outwardly extending rib and flange ,at one end ofthe nipple, said rib and flange being spaced apart sumciently to receiveand permit free moverment of the inturned nange of the nut portionthereof without interfering with the subsequent expansion vof the ho'sereceiving end of the nipple aftermounting'on a piece of hose. Y

'no'tl'ier 'object is vto provide a hose with a 'thin metal separableAcoupling mounted thereon, said coupling having r'nale andV femalehalves, both of which have extending nipples which areexpanded tot armribs entirely within the length of the ferrule onv the end of th'ehose,and 'adapted to grip therlio'se to 'said ferrule,` the female half 'ofthe couplingcarrying 'a nut with inturned flange 'at dnef'endengaged forfree movement 'between an outwardly extending 'spaced apart r'ib andflange Ow'E'HdOthe nipple.,

A furtherzbject is 'to provide a new method of forming and mounting athin metal separable hose 'coupling on a piece 'of hose by 'expandingeach nipple with the hose and ferrul'e iny place thereon, coupled Withthe placing of an outwadly 'extending rib 'on the Vfemale nippleadjacenty but spaced 'from the 'end flange thereof tefanc'hor the 'nut'thereon and facilitate f re'e rotary/inovef'ent of 'then'ut 'on thenipple 'aft'e'r nalgajssembly anule bse... Y

llffurtller object is 'to 'provide 'a thin 'metal separable. hosecoupling 'which i's simple in consu orion, 'efneleritln peretioa ejesjytomarme fee dre, andj'eesy to 'insert ln ure end of je 'sultab'lefsizepiece of'liose'as well as to anohr'threto. sdll'further objects andadventegesjef the presentin'vention will appearas the description 'pro-C'ed'Se. Y

'I lille aCCOln'plShl'eht Of th fglg and lated vende, the invention,then, 'Consists 'or 'the Stp's Ahere'in'afte'I' fully'slbed andpaltllily pointed out in the'cla'irns, the annexed drawing and the'following desc'lptll's'ttl'g yfltli ihA detail 'several modesof'carr'ying out the invention,

Such vdisclosed. lIlldes illustrating, however, but' several of variouswaysiri 'which the principle of the invention may b'e used.

` In the annexed drawing d d l Figure l shows a longitudinal sectionview of'a separable thin metal Lcoupling mounted on hoseV sections 'inVaccordanc'ze kwith the present-,invention.

Figure 2 shows in diagrammatic'mannera partiallyV sectioned view of oneconvenient way of forming the outwardly 'expanded :ribs in the straightinside bore of the'thin'metalcylindrical nipplejentirely within thelength ofthe ferrule, thenut having been omittedfor clarity 'of illus'-tratio'n. Y

"Figure Sshows a sectional view-as 'taken'atline 3l-3fofFigure 2,looking in the-direction=ofthe arrows; Y

-is es fer es the nose removed ontotlie'nlppl at the sam'e time 'nut E'will'not have itSfIitUmed" Figure 4 shows a fragmentary section view ofa modiflcation of the Figure l assembly, wherein the tail of the nippledoes not extend beyond the end of the ferrule.

Referring more particularly to Figure vl of the drawing, it will benoted Athat the right `'hand or male half of the coupling has 'anextending cylindrical nipple l which is provided with an enlargement 2at one end, such enlargement being 'externally threaded land providedwith an inturned ange 3 at its end opposite the nipple portion. The lefthand or female half of the coupling is provided with an extendingcylindrical nipple 4 which has adi-lange Sat one end. Mounted on nippleis an internally threaded nut 6, one end of which is, provided with aninturned flange 1 kadapted to engage nipple l behind flange 5 as shown.A rubber washer is normally used within the coupling between flange 5 ofnipple 4 and nange 3 of the male half of the coupling, such washer,however, has not been'shown sinceitdo'es not form vpartof thepresentinvention. ,d l

In accordance with 'the present inventionnip'- ples I and 4 are producedin cylindri'calunr bed" form such as is shown, for instance', in 2relative to nipple This'separz'ibl'e:heee is designed specincallyforfeasy insertion in "the end of a piece ofhose,v and ribbingafter'ir'lseitidil.

therein. Aeecrdln'gly, te save timejtiieiiieleil female halves arepreferably "shipped` disaiss'eln bled te the point of installation.Where trie.

female half of-the'nlppre se'ssembiedfands reliedin .this manner. the.deultyifi ted' is het nut 6 will'sometimes come oifof nipple 14.A'either in transit or during handlingfand' ii tlleiuitl yand" nippleare shippedfseparately thenftherejis fthe. extra time involved'ofassemblingthem a 'the time of installation. To overcome A"this sit n wepropose to form a rib "3 'on nipple "4 on the end of nipple 4. 'This'not only 'prevents' accidental separation of "nipple `4 Vand 'nut"tgbiltA also overcomes a fundamental dicultywhich has beenencountered'in the Apast-, since by forciing the h'ose receiving endjofthe :nipple of our improved female halfv of 'the coupling vinto the endofthe hose bypu'shing against theoutereni of nut 6, the inturned flange"i' of.

move up againstfrib 8 so that when hose se comes -up again'strrib o'rflange 1 of n flange '1 Ybound against the vend' of Ihose '9, but.rather 'same will be free to'rotatewin the' groove be; tween flange 5and Arib 8. JIt j should `be noted however, that before thefend ofthehose 'section' 9 is'forced onto the smooth'end ofjni'ppleg, afer'- rule-l e lwill ben-ret plaeedlon thel 'end` efthehose d as shown.

To melee 'it sull essertejpilsh-the ldfn nipples into vthe ends Iof 4thelhose; 4the entering end is 'preferably rounded or chairlfereddslightly,

or even turned in alittle to formafjsmllr ed flange 20, FigurefZ. Thisange 20 is' 'stralghten ed by expansion member "I2, 'when ribs `II 'are'formed,'so that 'when thelexpansion-iscorn leted the nipples ofthe maleand female halveslf-tle coupling will appearsubs'tantially as 'showninFigure 1.

hat nut 'will' the like,l before installation Kof the female half of thecoupling onto the hose. It is to be` understood that the showing of rib8 in Figures 1, 2, and l4 is diagrammatic of same after having beenproduced by these various equivalent procedures.

A situation similar to the mounting of the female half of the couplingis involved Where hose 9, with ferrule I@ mounted thereon, is forcedonto nipple I of the male half of the coupling, by pushing with thelarge endv of the male half against the edge of the assembly bench, orthe like, which thus places this half of the coupling in position foranchoring on the end of the hose section. Y

With ferrule I and hose 9 mounted on nipple 4 of the female half of thecoupling as shown in Figure 2, by pushing the nut end ofthe latteragainst the edge of the assembly bench, or the like, the next step is toexternally expand ribs II in nipple 4. One convenient way of expandingthese ribs is to utilize an expansion member I2 which is externallyribbed and provided with multiple lengthwise slots which extend from theribbed end almost to the opposite end. This expansion member I2 isadapted to freely pass into nipple 4 until its flange I3 comes upagainst ilange 5 of nipple 4, and is so proportioned that when same ismounted as shown, the circumferential ribs I'I on the expansion memberwill be in proper location for the production of ribs II in nipple 4entirely within the length of ferrule I. This expansion member I2preferably has a straight bore I4 throughout its length, and fitting thebore of expansion member I2, is an expansion mandrel member I5 whichgently curves outward, preferably in the form of an ogee curve, to fullribbing size, and then extends full size to its end, this shape beingvery efficient for expansion use. For convenience, this mandrel membermay be threaded on its extending end IB to facilitate connection to asuitable source of operating power. With the expansion member andmandrel in place as shown in Figure 2, mandrel member I5 is pulled tothe right while expansion member I2 is held, in any convenient manner,against endwise movement out of nipple 4. The movement of mandrel I5-thus forces segments I8 of the expansion member I2 outward toprogressively form the ribs which are shown in Figure 1, and at the sametime straightens out flange 20 on the end of the nipple when present asshown in Figure 2. This procedure requires less power to operate at anyone time since the first rib is partially formed before the second isstarted, and the rst is nished before the second, et cetera. The formingof the rst rib I I, Which would be the one within and adjacent theunilanged end of ferrule IIJ, pockets the portion of the h-ose betweenthat rib and the flanged end of the ferrule, and then the progressiveforming of the succeeding ribs exerts progressively greater grippingpressure to lock the coupling onto the end of the hose. This procedurenot only permits the application of extreme gripping pressure on thehose with reduced power input due to forming the ribs progressively, butalso allows the expansion stresses and strains in the metal to bemoderately self relieved in manner not possible if all of the ribs wereformed simultaneously. The male half of the hose coupling is assembledin like manner to the female half and the ribs II formed in place asshown. After the ribs II have been formed in the nipple, the mandrelmember I5 is moved to the left Which permits the expanding 6 member I2toV contract rto its initial size lfollo'w ing whichv mandrel memberl I5and expansion'- member `I2 may be removed from the''hosemounted couplingfor use in the next; coupling half to be expanded. The. coupling, iasthus mounted, is free from a-hump or humps beyond the end of the ferruleand is substantially'smooth and very neat in appearance.vHydraulicpressure testsv with this type of constructionshow that whenthe ribs are properly expanded,"and entirely within ferrule II)V whichcan be easily observed by skilled Workmen dueto the'slight bulge whichappears inthe: ferrule `betwe'errits ends during the vrib forming step,the coupling is rigidly anchored in place on .the hose Yto `the extentthat apiece of standard hosev will normally burst before it willseparate from the=cou` pling, thus showing that there is nothing tol begained by ribbing beyond the end of vferrule I0, and which might weakenthe hose fabric. y' 1 j While the nipple within the hose may be longerthan ferrule I mounted thereon, as is typically shown in Figures 1 and2, and which gives added internal support to the hose and reducedbreakage of same at the coupling under conditions of use, it may be ofthe same length or even a little shorter than the ferrule. The latter istypically illustrated in Figure 4 relative to the female half of thecoupling where nipple 4a is shown slightly shorter than ferrule Illa,and yet is expandable With the same tool as is diagrammatically shown inFigure 2 relative to the longer type of nipple. Ferrule Illa, which isinterchangeable with ferrule I0, is provided with an end flange I9 whichextends inward substantially to the outer surface of nipple 4a. Withthis type of construction, the formation of the expanded ribs I I actsto lock the ferrule in place, with the hose gripped therein, since theopening through flange I9 is smaller than the outer diameter of ribs II. The expansion principle applies equally with the nipple of either themale or female half of the coupling, and accordingly it is intended thatthe showing in Figure 4 be considered as diagrammatically illustratingthe eX- panded nipple of either half of the coupling.

Other modes of applying the principle of our invention may be employedinstead of those explained, change being made as regards the methodherein disclosed, provided the step or steps stated by any of thefollowing claims or the equivalent of such stated step or steps beemployed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention:

The method of fixedly mounting a nipple ended thin metal type ofseparable hose coupling, one half at a time, on the end of a section ofhose in which it is inserted and which has a close fitting ferrule onthe outer face of same, said ferrule being substantially shorter thanthe nipple portion which extends from the separable end of the couplinghalf and separated from said coupling half, said nipple forming a partof the coupling half and being expansible and of substantially straighttubular form approximately of the same outside diameter as the insidediameter of the hose section on which said coupling half is to beiixedly mounted and having a smooth outer surface, except for the veryend of the nipple which is moderately inwardly directed for ease ofinsertion into the end of the hose, the female half of said separablecoupling having a rib behind the nut to hold same in place and alsofacilitate mounting the coupling half on 't'd'n 1vfoward the 'x't"cafryin'g'end of said coupling- -halfby .starting -rthe formation lof'afcircumferential fr'b under-sadferru1e, andv :before sa'id rib iscompleted, fstamting; the formation of 'a 'second creumerentialrb,saidrst ribbemg 'completed before "heseeond, fand thus v:contmnng 'theV4ex@ parisien fdown -sa''d' nipple toward; :andterminatmglfjstfhoztfof, sairib fuehind the-nut to rxnlygirip'shelhos'etbrsadelirulesubstantiallyfthefull length ofasameanihusrcomplete 'the .anchoring 8 dfv` the, 'femalehalffof the coupling:to, thesecbon offlflosel n LOID M. :STI'NCIEICOMBv RAYMOND S'. DGERR.

References; -Gited in thefle of this ypatent 'UNITED STATES PATENTS

